Leading gear manufacturer, NORD Drivesystems provided the geared motor drive package for the conveyor upgrade at an Alliance Group processing facility in Dannevirke, Hawkes Bay, NZ.

A major New Zealand meat processor, the Alliance Group needed to upgrade their carton conveyors located at their Dannevirke processing plant. Seeking to upgrade to modern, reliable and more efficient technologies for their conveyor systems, Alliance turned to their power transmission supplier Russet Engineering Supplies to recommend and provide the leading edge technology for the geared motor drive package required for the upgrade.

The carton conveyors in the boning room were being updated from the older powered roller technology to a modular belt design driven by a high efficient drive package. There were three conveyors to be updated to the new technology. Additionally, there was the issue of the existing worm geared motors overheating even in the cold ambient temperature of 7 degrees inside the boning room, resulting in their failure within a very short service life of up to six months.

Importantly, Alliance engineer Dennis Rodgers wanted the new geared motor package to offer increased reliability, and an extended service life. The new drive package also needed to be suitable for their aggressive wash down environment.

Russet Engineering Supplies turned to major gear manufacturer NORD Drivesystems for the solution to meet these requirements. The new NORD 2 stage helical bevel gearbox complete with the new NORD HM series smooth exterior electric motor was selected and recommended to Alliance.

According to Mr Mark Bond, Power Transmission Specialist for Russet Engineering Supplies, after viewing NORD’s new 2 stage helical bevel gearbox and the new smooth series electric motor prototypes in Melbourne recently, they had no hesitation in recommending the new products to Alliance.

The NORD 2 stage helical bevel gearbox incorporates an industry leading design including oversized bearings. This technology offers one of the highest overhung output shaft load capacities available, and the large bearings extend the reliability and ultimate service life of the geared motor. The 2 stage helical gear set is 97% efficient, which further enhances the drive package’s highly efficient capacity to transmit maximum torque with minimum demand to the electric motor power. The high material specification, the high tolerance manufacturing, and the heat treatments employed by NORD in Germany ensure that the NORD 2 stage helical bevel gearboxes offer a market-leading life expectancy.

The new NORD HM series electric motors feature a smooth exterior surface, with no cooling fins at all. All exterior surfaces are sloped to facilitate flow of water and wash down off the surface. The NORD HM series electric motors are MEPS2 compliant (AS/NZS1359.5) and rated for S1 continuous duty.

The complete NORD geared motor assembly was coated with NORD’s Severe Duty Extreme Stainless Steel coating system (NSD), which is perfect for hygienic and food applications including wash down with aggressive chemicals. The NSD coating sets extremely hard, and will not chip or crack unlike other surface products such as two pack epoxy paint. The NSD coating has particular resistance to aggressive cleaning chemicals such as sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid, and caustic soda, making it ideal for the meat processing industry. The NSD coating encapsulates the entire geared motor assembly, prohibiting the ingress of water and chemicals under the exterior surface.

The NORD two-year factory warranty also enhanced Alliance’s buying decision. All NORD products are supported 24/7 in both New Zealand and Australia.

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